Bath tub with seat lift

Abstract: A bath (1) for use by elderly or disabled persons, comprising a bath tub (2), and a seat (3) for a user which seat is movable between a lower, bathing position and an upper position for the user to mount and dismount, wherein the seat (3) is tiltable between a generally upright mode for use when in the upper position for mounting and dismounting and a reclined mode for use when in the lower position for bathing.

Description: This invention relates to baths. It is known from British Patent No. 2222767 to provide a bath for disabled people provided at one end with a seat which is movable between a lower, bathing position within the bath tub and an upper position from which it is turnable sideways for the user to mount and dismount. With this bath the user sits generally upright on the seat so that only the lower half of the user's body is immersed in water when in the bathing position. In order to achieve greater immersion the user needs to slide forwardly on the seat but this is not always possible. Even if it is possible the user may not feel secure if he or she slides forward, in view of the difficulty of returning to the upright position. It is also known from FR-A-2332004 to provide a bath having at one end a seat mounted on a support movable between an upper, mounting position and a lower, bathing position. According to this document, the seat is connected to the support via a pivoting joint below the seat which allows the seat to swivel about a vertical axis and tilt about a horizontal axis. This tiling allows the front edge of the seat to be lowered to ease mounting by the user. In GB-A-2120933, there is disclosed a bath for use by elderly or disabled persons, comprising: a bath tub; a seat for a user which seat has a bottom part and is movable between a lower, bathing position and an upper position for the user to mount and dismount; and engaging means engageable by the seat during downward movement thereof to cause the seat to tilt during such downward movement. The present invention is characterised over GB-A-2120933 in that said seat is tiltable between a generally upright mode for use when in the upper position for mounting and dismounting and a reclined mode for use when in the lower position for bathing, in which reclined mode the bottom part of said seat is inclined upwardly in the forward direction relative to the horizontal. With such an arrangement the user can mount the seat when it is in the upright mode, but when bathing the user is reclined so as to achieve greater immersion than would be available if the seat remained in the upright mode. It is not necessary for the user to slide forwardly on the seat to achieve this immersion, thereby assisting the user to feel secure whilst bathing. The seat may be arranged to move between the lower and upper positions at an angle to the vertical and may for example follow a curved path of movement to achieve tilting, e.g. using curved guide tracks. Preferably, however, the bath comprises substantially vertically movable support means on which the seat is arranged to tilt about a horizontal pivot axis. The support means may for example include a substantially vertical shaft which may be driven electrically or by hydraulic or pneumatic pressure. The seat is preferably located at one end of an elongate bath, in which case the vertical shaft may be provided centrally of said one end or at one side thereof. The horizontal pivot axis of the seat may be provided at the top of the support means, for example at the top of the vertical shaft. However, during tilting the bottom part of the seat moves generally upwardly and if the horizontal pivot axis is at the top, the bottom part lifts by a relatively large amount to achieve a given tilt angle. This lift means that some of the vertically downward movement of the support means is "lost" by the bottom part of the seat. Preferably therefore the vertically movable support means comprises a portion extending forwardly and downwardly into the bath, at least in the lower position of the seat, and the horizontal pivot axis is provided on said portion. By positioning the horizontal pivot axis in a lower position, the same tilt angle can be achieved with less lifting of the bottom part of the seat. Thus the vertical range of the support means need not be too large. Where a vertically movable shaft is provided, the horizontal pivot axis may then be located forwardly and downwardly of the top of the shaft. Whilst the horizontal pivot axis may be located adjacent to the bottom part of the seat, this may result in the seat having to be too far forward with a loss of some of the usable length of the bath. Preferably therefore the horizontal pivot axis is positioned intermediate the top and the bottom of the seat, for example approximately halfway between the two. A user may be able to mount and dismount the seat when in an upper position directly above the bath. Preferably, however, the seat is turnable sideways about a vertical pivot axis, so that it can be turned over eg. the side rim of the bath in the upper position to facilitate mounting and dismounting. The vertical pivot axis may be provided at eg. the end rim of the bath; for example, the seat may be turnable about the axis of the vertical shaft. However, in a preferred embodiment, the vertical pivot axis is provided on the forwardly and downwardly extending portion of the support means. If the bath is positioned in a room with the vertically movable support means near a wall of the room, the location of the vertical pivot axis in a relatively forward position provides more space for the seat to turn sideways without bumping against the wall. The seat may have a part which covers the support means when the seat is in the reclined mode. This arrangement protects the support means against water splashes. The covering part may for example be the top portion of a back rest which may be arranged to curve over the top of the support means. The bath may have a first drive means to move the seat between the lower and upper positions and a second, separate drive means to effect tilting of the seat. Preferably the bath comprises engaging means engageable by the seat during downward movement thereof to cause the seat to tilt to the reclined mode during such downward movement. The engaging means may for example be a fixed portion of the bath tub engageable by the seat or by a rotatable member on the seat. Preferably the engaging means comprises at least one rotatable member, such as a wheel, roller or the like. This can for example be engageable by the back surface of the seat back rest during downward movement of the seat. In a preferred form of the invention, the bath tub has a seat well into which the seat is lowered and a foot well. Thus the region between the two wells, where the user's knees will normally be positioned when the seat is in the reclined mode, will not need a large quantity of water. In order to achieve good drainage of the bath, the seat well and the foot well preferably each have a drain. A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a longitudinal cross-section through a bath. The bath 1 consists of a bath tub 2 and a seat 3 having a bottom part 4 and a back rest 5. The seat includes at least one drainage hole (not shown), which may for example be located at the junction between the bottom part and the back rest. The seat 3 is supported by vertically movable support means 6 consisting of a hydraulically driven vertical shaft 7 and an arm 8 which extends forwardly and downwardly from the top of the shaft. At the end of the arm 8 a bracket 9 is mounted to turn about a vertical pivot axis 10. The seat 3 is supported on the bracket 9 to be pivotable about a horizontal axis 11. The vertically movable shaft 7 is arranged to be driven by a hydraulic drive unit 12 which passes upwardly through the rim 13 of the bath tub 2 at the rear end thereof. A rear end wall 14 of the bath tub 2 is provided with a wheel 15 which is engageable with the seat back rest 5 along a rear surface thereof below the horizontal pivot axis 11. The bath tub 2 has a seat well 16 with a drain 18 and a foot well 17 with a drain 19. The bath tub has an elevated portion 20 between the two wells. The operation of the bath will now be described. Figure 1 shows in dotted lines the seat 3 in an upper position and in full lines the seat in the lower position. In the upper position the seat is generally upright and can be turned sideways about the vertical pivot axis 10 to assist the user in mounting and dismounting the seat. The weight of a user on the seat bottom part 4 tends to maintain the seat in the upright mode. The hydraulic drive unit 12 is operable to lower the seat 3 to its lower position. During lowering, the seat initially remains in the upright position but eventually the rear surface of the seat back rest 5 engages the wheel 15 so that continued downward movement of the seat causes the seat to tilt rearwardly from the upright mode to the reclined mode. When the seat is fully lowered it adopts the position shown in Figure 1 in the reclined mode. This reclines the user and achieves greater immersion than would be the case without tilting. The bottom part 4 of the seat is inclined downwardly towards the back rest 5 such that the user is reclined for bathing. When the hydraulic drive unit is operated to lift the seat, it automatically tilts back to the upright mode under the control of the wheel 15 engaging the rear surface of the back rest 5. It will be appreciated that the terms "upright mode" and "reclined mode" as used in this specification are intended to be understood relative to each other. Thus in the reclined mode, the seat is simply more reclined than in the upright mode. When the seat is stated as being in the upright mode, this does not mean that any part thereof, eg. the back rest, is necessarily vertically upright.

Claims: A bath (1) for use by elderly or disabled persons, comprising: a bath tub (2); a seat (3) for a user which seat has a bottom part (4) and is movable between a lower, bathing position and an upper position for the user to mount and dismount; and engaging means (15) engageable by the seat (3) during downward movement thereof to cause the seat to tilt during such downward movement; characterised in that said seat (3) is tiltable between a generally upright mode for use when in the upper position for mounting and dismounting and a reclined mode for use when in the lower position for bathing, in which reclined mode the bottom part (4) of said seat (3) is inclined upwardly in the forward direction relative to the horizontal. A bath (1) as claimed in claim 1, comprising substantially vertically movable support means (6) on which the seat (3) is arranged to tilt about a horizontal pivot axis (11). A bath (1) as claimed in claim 2, wherein the horizontal pivot axis (11) is positioned intermediate the top of the substantially vertically movable support means (6) and the bottom part (4) of the seat (3). A bath (1) as claimed in claim 2 or 3, wherein the support means (6) comprises a portion (8) extending forwardly and downwardly towards the bath tub (2) and wherein the horizontal pivot axis (11) is provided on said portion (8). A bath (1) as claimed in claim 2, 3 or 4, wherein the seat (3) has a part which covers the support means (6) when the seat (3) is in the reclined mode. A bath (1) as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the seat (3) is turnable sideways about a vertical pivot axis (10) for the user to mount and dismount when in the upper position. A bath (1) as claimed in claim 6, when dependent on claim 4, wherein said vertical pivot axis (10) is provided on said forwardly and downwardly extending portion (8). A bath (1) as claimed in claim 6, when dependent on any of claims 2 to 5, wherein the support means (6) comprises a substantially vertical shaft (7) and said vertical pivot axis is substantially coaxial with said shaft. A bath (1) as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the engaging means comprises at least one rotatable member (15). A bath (1) as claimed in claim 9, wherein said rotatable member is attached to said seat (3) and said engaging means further comprises a fixed portion of said bath tub (2) engageable by said rotatable member. A bath (1) as claimed in claim 9, wherein said rotatable member (15) is attached to said bath tub (2) and said engaging means further comprises a portion of said seat (3) engageable by said rotatable member (15). A bath (1) as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the bath tub (2) has a seat well (16) into which the seat (3) is lowered and a foot well (17). A bath (1) as claimed in claim 12, wherein the seat well (16) and the foot well (17) each have a drain (18, 19).

Inventors: PARKER ROY, PARKER, ROY
Applicants: PARKER BATH COMPANY LIMITED
Application year: 1994
Main classification: A61G7
IPC codes: A61G7